The other message on my phone was more encouraging.
“I found the safe house!” It was a message from Aleena.
In the game, safe houses existed, but their appearance was rare, so many people disregarded them.
Just then, a location appeared in the group chat.
The three bosses accompanied me toward the location. And with their help, I moved faster.
As soon as we entered the safe house, we saw D sitting confidently in the middle.
“Everyone, you must have seen it by now. The game has changed. We may not find clean food anymore. And I’m sure you’ve encountered the monsters on the island.”
When monsters were mentioned, all the players in the room shuddered.
Seeing me tremble, Axel hid his form and pressed down on my shoulder.
I had to admit that D had leadership qualities. Everyone followed his orders and started searching for food.
Naturally, I wasn’t exempt from this.
Axel awkwardly grabbed my arm. He said his house had food, so I didn’t need to follow D’s order.
But I didn’t agree.
My quest was to increase the affection levels of the Four Bosses. But until now, they had no idea who the fourth boss was.
1/3
Chapter
+25 BONUS
Maybe, only with the second phase triggered would the fourth boss finally appear.
So, hiding at home wasn’t going to help. I had to find the opportunity to complete my quest.
I took out the protective charm D had given me, but Axel suddenly got angry. “Are you trying to kill us, Heidi?”
Finally, someone in the live chat recognized that it wasn’t protective charm.
It was a lure charm, designed to attract NPCs and bosses. Players wore it to divert attention. It sacrificed the majority to ensure the survival of the few.
The live chat exploded. Half the people supported Delicious, while the other half criticized him.
Delicious wasn’t new to this kind of behavior, but since he ranked first on the game leaderboard, no one dared to hold him accountable.
The charm shattered under Axel’s angry assault.
But I thought I understood why D had been hoarding supplies.
In the following days, the weather grew increasingly bizarre. Thunderstorms, earthquakes, and typhoons alternated.
But even more terrifying were the players who had turned into monsters, attacking us frantically.
The few remaining sane players had to reinforce the safety house’s doors and windows to ensure safety.
But D refused to let anyone rest. He even teamed up with veteran players to force new players to go out and gather supplies.
He deliberately left a small door unreinforced during the reinforcement process so they could push people out whenever needed.
D had already taken control of the food, water, and the few items that could be used as weapons or cover.
A few days ago, everything had been handed over to him under his order.
The safe house had always been part of his scheme.
He used numbers to soothe the new players‘ fear and affability to dissolve their suspicions.
From the very beginning, with his fake kindness in adding us into the group chat to now enslaving everyone, D had never seen anyone as human.
Thanks to the three bosses‘ supply, I didn’t go hungry, but trouble still found me.
The moment Aleena arrived, she slapped me hard.
I was stunned by the blow. Axel and the others were furious. They wanted to retaliate, but I stopped them because my passive skill had been awakened.
I could now see the live chat.
“Heidi, you’re still not dead? Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you die! I’m already D’s woman. He listens to everything I say!” Aleena said arrogantly.
She was my roommate, someone I always thought I had a good relationship with.
But when my passive skill was awakened, I also unlocked memories from before I traveled here.
Aleena had broken up with her boyfriend and insisted on dragging me along to burn candles for him like he was
2/3
Chapter
already dead.
+26 BONUS
On the bus ride back, she was furious about being dumped and about how others were happier than she was.
She grabbed the steering wheel, and the whole bus fell off the cliff. There were 21 people on the bus!
But I never expected it was all part of her premeditated plan.
Axel told me there was a hidden condition in the game.
The number of people one brought into the game determined how many respawn chances one could get.
1820
66
Chapter
